Detention centres 'may hurt' Aussie UN bid

Australia's controversial use of offshore detention centres could stymie its bid to secure a seat on the United Nations' Human Rights Council.

Australia is after one of two vacant seats that will come up on the 47-member council in 2018, with France and Spain its rival contenders.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has argued that while Australia is far from perfect and expects criticism over its asylum seeker policy, it deserves a seat given its strong track record in promoting fundamental freedoms and free speech.

But human rights advocates are divided about whether Australia is a worthy candidate given its use of offshore detention centres on Nauru and Manus Island to detain asylum seekers.

Amnesty International and the Human Rights Law Centre (HRLC) both believe Australia needs to lift its game in terms of asylum seekers and indigenous Australians to improve its chances of securing a seat.

"It needs to, in good faith, clean up its own backyard," HRLC director of advocacy Emily Howie told AAP.

"Australia's treatment of refugees is not just a domestic issue of concern anymore. It's caught global attention for all the wrong reasons.

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"So it's difficult for Australia to put its hand on its heart and say 'we are a global human rights leader' when there is this chorus of experts saying this treatment of refugees by Australia is cruel and degrading."

An Amnesty International report in October accused Australia of deliberate abuse and neglect of asylum seekers on Nauru, saying the systematic nature of the harm being done to them amounted to torture.

The UN's Human Rights Council itself in late 2015 attacked Australia over its policies on asylum seeker boat turn-backs and offshore detention as well as indigenous incarceration rates.

In a speech to the Lowy Institute this week Ms Bishop defended the detention centre policy, rejecting claims that it breached international laws and the rights of asylum seekers.

She said since the coalition came to power in 2013 it had removed all children from detention, found resettlement options and closed 17 detention centres.

GetUp human rights campaign director Shen Narayanasamy says Australia shouldn't put its hand up for a seat on the council.

"Australia can't sit in judgment of other people," she said.

"What we are doing in offshore detention centres is perpetuating human rights abuses under a veneer of law and necessity against some of the world's most vulnerable people."

While Amnesty International Australia also condemns the detention centre policy, its government relations manager Stephanie Cousins believes if Australia does get elected it would have to improve its treatment of asylum seekers.

"The whole point of the Human Rights Council is to try and get states to improve their human rights records through the diplomatic process," she said.

"So what we are calling for is for Australia to say what they are going to do if they are elected, both at home and internationally."

Members of the UN General Assembly are due to vote on the council's membership slots in late 2017.